As a gamemaster, you have to be able to handle numerous tasks at once. You have to describe the scene, adjudicate the rules, portray the non-player characters (NPC’s), and try to keep everyone involved. That’s a lot, so you don’t need your session note format to get in the way. In this article, we’ll look at several ways to organize your NPC stats, their advantages, and their disadvantages. No one method is perfect, nor do you have to stick with the same one all the time. Even if you already have a preferred format, it’s always good to see what else is out there. Let’s look at some options
INLINE STATS
This is the traditional method of writing NPC stats right in your session notes. Both your encounter notes and information on potential foes are all in one place. Custom opponents can be created beforehand, and you may not need to bring a monster-book to your session. Also, you can even include little checkboxes to keep track of hit points or conditions during play.
However, compiling inline stats can be a time intensive process. Abbreviating the stats can help a bit, though be careful not to miss any important information (I’ve been guilty of this in the past). Also, you may have to do a bit of page flipping if the players deviate from the expected order of encounters.
RULEBOOK FOES
Some GM’s don’t bother collecting stats beforehand. They just note the particular type of opponent, and perhaps a page number. Then they just reference those foes during play. Sticky notes or bookmarks can help you find things more easily during the session. This method cuts down on prep time, and doesn’t require you to write out stats for opponents the party may only encounter once. It affords a great deal of flexibility to the GM as they are not locked into one specific type of foe. It’s great for sandbox or improv style play.
One drawback to this method is that you will need to bring your rulebooks to every session. You’ll be flipping through them often, which can be inconvenient if you need several types of opponents for particular encounters. If you want a custom opponent, you’ll have to adjust a published one in the middle of play.
CARDS
There are commercial and fan-made cards available for some games. If you’d like to make your own, there are free sites available and even some stand-alone programs. And there’s always index cards (it’s kind of a tradition). You can build up your card file session by session. After a while, you’ll be able to flip through your stack and easily create a few encounters. This is ideal for pickup games, and it’s much easier to tote a few cards to a game than an entire rulebook.
During play, though, they are one more physical item that you have to fiddle with. (I’ve already knocked them on the floor during combat.) Also, you’ll have to switch back and forth between your session notes and your cards. They do take time to create, and can use up a lot of printer ink. It’s important to take the time to organize them between sessions so you can find the cards you need when you need them.
NPC CHARTS
A final method we’ll look at is the NPC Chart. These charts contain statistics for opponents of different levels or abilities. During play, you can simply slide a ruler down to the needed row, and there’s your second level goblin warrior ready to go. Just like rulebook foes and cards, this provides the GM with a lot of flexibility for sandbox play or unexpected encounters. Also, you’ll only need to make this chart once. This can be a real time-saver in the long run.
Like cards and rulebooks, an NPC chart is another separate item to manage during play. Also, the chart may not list extra attacks and special abilities. If you’re not careful, every fourth level opponent can start to look exactly alike. Another option is to list individual foe types (orcs, klingons, rules lawyers, etc…) in your chart. That may work for some campaigns, though it may become a bit large and unwieldy.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
How you organize your NPC stats will depend on your GM style, and it may change over time. Also, it should be said, some styles of gaming are less dependent on NPC stats than others. For those games, you may not need much at all beyond a rough outline. These are only suggested as a few options. Try them all and see what works best for you.
How about you? What method do you use? Did I miss any other important ways to organize NPC’s? Let us know below.
I do a hybrid of cards and charts. I keep all my NPC’S on cards and then use the copier in my office (don’t tell my boss LOL) to copy the relevant cards onto a single sheet per encounter.
Then I slip my sheets into page sleeves and use a small 3 ring binder (probably 1″. It’s the thinnest binder you can get unless you need a bigger one). I sleeve them such that when I open to a page the NPC cards are on the left and the encounter notes are on the right.
It’s a little extra work because when an NPC type shows up in multiple encounters I have to copy them onto multiple sheets, but I only had the make the card once. I don’t have to flip between pages or fumble with cards because all the info for the particular encounter is in one place.
I’ve used this hybridization for Random Encounter charts as well; build your chart with your cards and number them. Then roll on it and all of your stats are right there so you don’t have to go find your goblin or skeleton stats after the roll, and you can really customize your random charts this way.
May not work for everyone, but I like this method. I got the idea while looking through my Magic: The Gathering Rare binder.
Kingslayer, I love the idea of cards on the left, notes on the right. What do you use to make your cards (I use Magic Set Editor, though I am not sure if it is still supported/developed)?
Organization during play is key. In fact, I have my session notes next to me right now and better get back to editing them. May see if I can use your organization idea right now.
Yeah when organization issues bog down a game no-one has fun!
I use Magic Workstation. It has a nifty Card Creation Center and allows you to create custom sets, so I can keep all of my RPG cards separate from my Magic Cards. The picture field is huge, so you’re limited in actual text real-estate, but you can use the other fields creatively for important info.
Example: I’m playing using the Savage Worlds system (currently running a campaign set in Magic’s Zendikar plane) and two important stats for combat are Parry and Toughness. So I put those numbers in the cards Power and Toughness fields to find quickly.
Glad you like my organization method. Let me know what you think after you’ve used it in a game.
I didn’t say it explicitly in the last post, but you can’t design card layouts in Magic Workstation (at least not in the version I have, which is several years old now). You’re forced to put all of your info on MTG cards.
I’ll look into Magic Set Editor when I get a chance but if anyone can suggest other card creators I’d appreciate it!
Thanks Kingslayer. In Magic Set Editor, you have to use one of the Templates, but it still works as long as you don’t have too much to note.
Depending on the kind of NPC, I change method. If it’s a mook, or some sort of bit player, they get included in the night’s notes, often just whatever stat moght need to be engaged with — need to convince a person to do X, some kind of notation of willpower, or whatever moght be included.
For the major henchman or a character inportant throughout the night or two, they often get a full writeup and are included in the notes, either in the first scene they’ll be encountered in, or at the end.
For major NPCs, or recurring supporting characters (good or bad), they often get a full writeup and are on either their own sheet, or a roster (complete with a visual, when possible). I used to print these out, now I keep them on my iPad or laptop.
I have a set of third level writeups that I use all the time if I need a quick NPC.
Or I just roll the dice and see if it is reasonable. (That’s the MSU method: “Make Stuff Up.”)
But don’t tell my players.
I’ve taken the card approach to an Evernote-based system. What makes this work for me:
* checkboxes
* duplicate NPCs quickly
* I can link to these NPCs directly in my writing program
* I can include pictures to project/display on a tablet
In my quest to become an efficient paperless GM I’m finding that this method has saved me numerous minutes at the table at the expense of general data input prep time.
I use and LOVE Evernote too, though I keep all my session notes in one big MSWORD file.
Though Evernote might be better for finding things more quickly.
I used to use Evernote for all my gaming notes, but it turns out that I prefer to use Scrivener for that – if it had checkboxes I’d surely eschew Evernote for this and keep everything in one place. However, the added ability to share a notebook of NPCs has been a boon.
Out of curiosity, can you post a link to a sample NPC card? I’m not sure how you are using check boxes in Evernote for NPC’s?
My apologies Brian, these look like warmed over crap in the web interface, it’s embarrassing. What I use them for is to track stat thresholds – in FFG’s new Star Wars RPG, we track both wounds and strain. I just group them in blocks of 5 separated by a bold pipe character. I do the same for anything with ammo. I additionally fumble around with nested tables, which is certainly not a good use of my prep time.
I also use Evernote for this, with each NPC or creature getting it’s own note. Then I can either just search for it when I need it or bookmark it if I know I’m going to need it.
Seems like Evernote is getting a lot of love here.
I print out the page with the monster on it. Then I scribble on it in play.
It helps that I GM games where I have a PDF version available. (13th Age and Numenera ATM).
Thanks Nojo, those are both great ideas. We play Basic Fantasy and my players have the PDF too. I keep the actual book next to me, Luddite that I am.
I’ve discovered Hero Lab. It’s pricey to keep up with the Pathfinder books, but since I’ve started organizing encounters with it, everything about combat is so much faster. And it does all the calculations for you.
There’s also a free, beginner version of Hero Lab to try it out before you sink a lot of money into it. Sounds great for more robust rulesets.
I second Hero Lab for Pathfinder. It can get pricy, but you don’t have to buy everything all at once. As a GM, picking up the core rules and the first three Bestiaries as a bundle isn’t too terribly expensive, and the time saved is great. My group has all drunk the Kool-Aid, so we use it for our character management too.
I also have to give a shout out to Realm Works which is also from Lone Wolf (the developers of Hero Lab). Realm Works is a campaign management tool that I’ve been using for a while now, and I cannot imagine going back to an analog solution. You can embed statblocks or even Hero Lab portfolio files in your encounter entries within Realm Works. If you have both HL and RW installed on the machine, you can launch directly from the embedded portfolio file into Hero Lab and use it to manage your combat.
It may be overkill for more rules light systems, but Hero Lab is a real lifesaver for Pathfinder (apply multiple conditions, spell effects, and an arbitrary penalty for fighting in the rain? no problem, and the math’s all handled – brilliant).
Regardless of your system, Realm Works is a useful tool. If you have any inclination to have a laptop at the table behind the GM screen, I highly recommend you check it out. There is a learning curve, but the community is very active and supportive.
I like 3×5 cards (4×6 would be fine too), with one corner hole punched and placed on a book ring. It works for low level foes in D&D, White Wolf, Fate (especially FAE), etc.
It’s easy to peel the cards out of the ring when you need 3 or 4 for a fight. I tend to use these for “class” type foes–recurring generic adversaries like Dwarven Mercentaries, police officers, etc. The same system works for specialized foes–but since they’re “one & done”, I’ll photocopy their page out of the monster manual or something similar, so I can lay them out without flipping pages. For 4e or higher level D&D in any edition play, copied monsters or just using them straight from the MM works, as long as you have scratch paper for the foes’ HP.